


listen to your heart

by livmoores



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Acceptance, Slight Canon Divergence, Survivor Guilt, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-06 06:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21222077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livmoores/pseuds/livmoores
Summary: "I couldn’t sleep because of you. Because I miss you. Because I want you to be safe, I want you to be happy, and I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing you be a shell of the person you once were. You’re better than this, Dimitri. Let me help you. Please, oh Gods, please, let me help you."Those were the words she wanted to say but they wouldn’t come out.





	1. before you tell him goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> so as someone who has PTSD, i find it very hard to believe that it was only rodrigue's death that caused dimitri to snap out of his bloodlust. i 100% believe it was a turning point and the one that caused him to finally get his shit together but i do not believe it was the sole reason. it's more likely that his interactions with everyone else also helped that, especially byleth. and i kind of refuse to believe she just stood by his side for four months and was like !!!! nah it's cool he will get his head out of his ass!!! i feel like she would have reached a breaking point eventually, which was right around the time rodrigue died. there's only so much one can take, ya know?? like i know she's got sothis and whatnot but like ????? emotions ??? during war time with ptsd that byleth has, as well as everyone else around her?? come on.
> 
> or maybe in my mind she did because in my mind she's hopelessly in love with dimitri so there's that. look let's just accept my sight canon divergence and feed my sad shipper heart. the byleth i play would have snapped a long time ago lmaooo.

The first three moons were some of the hardest Byleth had ever experienced.

Out of all the scenarios that had run through her head when picturing the future, more specifically the Millennium Festival, this was not what she had pictured. She had pictured her students happy, smiling and conversing with each other as they caught up. She had expected Dedue and Mercedes to be together. She had expected Sylvain to have someone who had captured his eye for the long run, putting an end to skirt-chasing ways, for Felix and Annette to be having a lively debate, for Ashe and Ingrid to be talking passionately about the latest knight stories. And above all else, she expected Dimitri and her to be sharing those stolen glances (perhaps with the hope of something more), for the two of them to be smiling and engaging in a lively conversation with the rest of the Blue Lions.

In every scenario that had played through her head, a war was not one of them.

Since she had woken up and found Dimitri and reunited with her students, it had taken a lot out of her. Byleth found herself tired, closer to tears and more paranoid than ever before. She knew exactly what it was, something her father had always mentioned when it happened to the best mercenary. _It finally got to them. _Despite being so emotionless, had she finally snapped from the stress of the war? It was possible.

Mercedes had an entirely different theory, one that stung her to the core.

_“There’s only so much you can do for His Highness. I know it is hard but you cannot allow yourself to be consumed by it. I know you love him but the war has changed us in many ways we did not think was possible. Just be careful, that is all I ask.”_

The ring felt heavy in her pocket as she thought about the word “love.” Was that the reason she had been trying so hard to get Dimitri back to himself? No, she believed it was because she knew what her former student was capable of. He was a kind person who had just suffered from immense tragedy. She had seen it before countless of times on the battlefield. It happened to even the best of the soldiers.

It was happening to Byleth right now.

Biting her lip, she looked down at the water, the tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. It was a new feeling, getting used to the tears that were so readily escaping her eyes. In the past three moons, she had cried more than she had ever cried in her life. And gods, she desperately wished Sothis was with her to help qualm her mind.

Her legs were swing against the pier, a nervous habit she had developed back in the Academy days. It pained her greatly to be at the pier, especially considering the circumstances that brought her here. Countless of times, she would wander through the monastery at night, her insomnia at an all time high, only to find Dimitri sitting down, staring aimlessly at the water.

They rarely talked during those times. Instead, she recognized that he was doing his best to hold himself together, that he was gripping the edge of the dock with so much force his fingers would be bruised the next day. And all she could do during that time was sit next to him in complete silence while fighting the battle in her heart to help with whatever troubled him.

Byleth knew that right now she was sitting at the edge of the pier, hoping that Dimitri would do the same for her. It almost caused her to laugh because she knew it was a foolish thought. At this point, Dimitri only cared about one thing and that one thing was putting a certain Emperor’s head on his lance.

Taking another deep breath, her hands gripped the edge of the pier as she tried to control her breathing. She was trying her hardest not to cry, which felt so _stupid_, that she didn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Oh. You’re here.”

The tone was dismissive and cold but it was still enough to make Byleth’s heart flutter as she looked up. _What kind of cruel irony is this?_ She wiped her sleeve to the corner of her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. The last thing she needed was Dimitri to make a snide comment about her weakness.

“Couldn’t sleep. You?”

_I couldn’t sleep because of you. Because I miss you. Because I want you to be safe, I want you to be happy, and I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing you be a shell of the person you once were. You’re better than this, Dimitri. Let me help you. Please, oh Gods, please, let me help you._

Those were the words she wanted to say but they wouldn’t come out.

The prince took a seat beside her, shocking her to her core. It was just like the time in the Academy and it made her sick to her stomach. All she wanted to do was reach out, to gently brush his hair out of his eyes and do whatever she could to calm him down from this constant state of anxiety.

“I don’t sleep much anymore,” Dimitri finally spoke after a few moments of staring at the water.

“You didn’t sleep much at the Academy either.” The response was quick, almost like a joke, and Byleth regretted it instantly.

Dimitri titled his head to the sided and she could swear she almost saw a smile forming on his lips. No, that thought was foolish. He didn’t smile anymore, as everyone was so careful to point out to her.

_“Professor, I know you want to help him but it’s been three moons and barely anything has changed. The only thing we have done is delay him going to Enbarr and we both know it’s only because he knows, deep down, that he doesn’t have the resources. It does not matter what we-”_

_“Ha! You think that’s the case?” Felix had interjected. “The boar prince has finally gone feral and he doesn’t give a flying fuck about anything other than his stupid cause. Which, by the way, is going to get us all killed if we decide to go along with him.”_

_“I hate to say this, but I agree with both of them,” Ingrid had piqued up. It was clear that she was distressed by what she was about to say about her former friend. “He’s being careless and he will get us all killed. I don’t want to die.” Ingrid paused before she spoke again. “And I do not know if you haven’t noticed this, professor, but he does not smile anymore. Trust me, we’ve tried.”_

_Ashe nodded his head in agreement. “Not even the stupid jokes from Alois makes him laugh anymore. He used to love those, didn’t he?”_

_Dedue was the only one not to comment on the princes’s misery but his eyes spoke legions._

“How can I sleep when I have such an important mission to complete?” Dimitri mused, his legs mimicking her movements over the water. Even he didn’t want to admit how much it reminded him of the Academy.

“Do you really thin- No, nevermind. It’s not important.”

It was important but Byleth knew that it was an uphill battle. The fight wasn’t worth it anymore. At this point, every time she had tried to suggest even the remote possibility of Dimitri taking a step back from the only thing keeping him alive, it had left her close to tears. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him.

“No, speak your mind.”

Byleth looked up, her brows furrowed together. That tone did not match the Dimtiri standing in front of her. It was soft, a bit hard around the edges, almost like he cared. The thought almost made her laugh. But instead of laughing, she sighed as she pinched the spot between her eyes in an effort to calm herself down.

“It’s a fucking waste of effort on you and you already know that. What, are you looking for a fight?” It was the first time she had snapped and the words were coming like a tsunami. “I’m fucking _tired, _Dimitri. I’m so tired of trying to convince you to stay when all you want to seek out is vengeance. I’m tired of spending my time worrying that you’re going to do something stupid, something that will _get us all killed_. I’m tired of listening to everyone whisper about how foolish this is, about how you’re nothing more than a lost cause, that we should just leave in you in the dust instead of hoping you’ll come to your senses.”

Her feet had stopped moving against the pier, her boots almost touching the water as Byleth started to shake. The mint haired woman focused straight ahead at the water, unable to stare Dimitri directly in his eye.

“I’m _done._ I am tired of pretending that this is not affecting me. I am tried of pretending that I am not crying. I am tired of believing you give a damn about me like you once did. I am tired of clinging onto whatever memories we had five years ago because clearly, you don’t care. If you don’t, why should I? _Why should I give a flying fuck anymore?_” The tears were starting to escape.

“You don’t listen to me. You don’t listen to anyone. You’re so consumed by this unnecessary hatred that I don’t know what happened. When we first met, I knew that there was something off, that there was a sense of darkness lurking underneath. That was obvious to anyone, as long as they looked closely. I chalked it up to survivors guilt; hell, what you went through was enough to make anyone lose their state of mind. And then you _snapped_, you lost yourself after Edelgard-” she pretended not to notice the way Dimitri’s hand instinctively grasped his lance. “- And no matter what, you became reckless. All that mattered to you was continuing your fight to avenge your demons.”

Byleth was starting to stutter. She stood up, her legs wobbling as she attempted to regain control of herself. There was no way she was going to allow herself to be this weak in front of Dimitri.

“You don’t care. You don’t care about any of us and I am tired of thinking you do. I’ve put you first for three moons and this is the first time I’ve found the words to tell you the true. I’ve been patient. I’ve taken what everyone else said in stride and tried to be a pillar you could lean on in your darkest times. But I don’t know where you’re going and I’m tired of trying to figure out why, when everyone you love and will support you is standing right beside you.”

She ran a hand through her mint hair, the distress obvious on her face. “You’re breaking my heart and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” she whispered, looking down at the prince who held a face void of emotion to rival hers.

“So for the sakes of my students, for me, for _our lives_, I am done trying to justify your actions.”

_I love you, please don’t let me walk away._

It was a feeble plea and she knew it. It still didn’t hurt her any less as her heels clicked against the ground and she got father and father away from the blonde. For now, it was time to tell him goodbye. If he decided to have a change of heart, that was a conversation for another time. Instead, she had to do what was best for her, despite how hard it was.

Closing the door to her quarters behind her, she slid to the ground as the tears started to flow freely. Her heart had been screaming at her to tell him goodbye for a few weeks. Byleth had finally reached her breaking point upon seeing the look of pure vengeance in his eyes and knowing it was going to take a miracle to bring him back.

Listening to her heart was harder than the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part two: dimitri realizes he is a dumb boi(tm)


	2. you've built a love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao sorry this took forever to update. i wasn't really in the mood to write anything, was going through some shit, beat my blue lions game and restarted on the church route of the black eagles and then i was like "whew i wanna write!!" so here we are, chapter two. it's long. do i care?? not in the slightest. i took my whiskey and diet coke, my spotify playlist dedicated to songs that are titled "fire emblem fanfic songs inspo" and finished the story. sidebar, my playlist is fire if anyone wants to listen to it. 
> 
> here's part two, aka "dimitri is a dumb boi in luv" and "byleth still luvs u u idiot but she's unsure of your words because words are just words not actions!!"
> 
> unbeta'd, all the good stuff, really.

A lot had changed for the boar prince in the past four moons.

Dimitri had come to accept his life as a vigilante, that he was going to die at the hands of some reckless action he had caused. What he hadn’t expected was for Byleth to be alive (even though he always believed she was), for his classmates to come back for the millennium festival, and for Dedue to be alive. And what he hadn’t expected the most was to see tears falling for Byleth’s face as she walked away from him, finally admitting defeat on his lost soul.

His first reaction had been good riddance. Dimitri knew it was for the best, that this is what he had to do in order to right the wrong in the world. Yet the voices in his head had been quiet that night for the first time in many moons. That was the part that had scared him the most.

The blonde had watched from afar for the next couple of weeks, noticing how his former professor seemed to be coming apart at the seams. It brought immense pain to his heart, which was the last thing he wanted to admit to. He hated that all he wanted to do was pull her into his embrace, keep her close, whisper sweet nothings and tell her that it was going to be okay.

Dimitri had done well at holding those thoughts together until Rodrigue had died.

It was like something had awoken with him, something that had been lurking at the surface ever since the professor had come back into his life. The world had shifted from black and white, to a sense of grey upon Byleth’s return, to a true world of grey. It was the world he was familiar with, one he had lost after Edelgard was revealed to be the Flame Emperor and Byleth had been lost in battle for five years.

It was refreshing.

_“Your hands… have they always been so warm?”_

His words had felt foolish considering the conversation the had had a mere few weeks ago. Or rather, conversation where Byleth had completely unloaded onto him and he listened to her tears. It still pained him greatly to think about it, knowing the pain he had caused her. If he could take it all back in time, he would, yet Dimitri knew that wasn’t a possibility. What was done was done and all he could do was try and atone for his sins.

It was exactly why he was watching her from afar at the pier. The thought almost brought a smile to his lips as he thought about everything that had happened between the two of them at the fishing pond. It was the moment Dimitri realized he had fallen hopelessly in love with the professor and there was no turning back. It was also the moment he had realized the love of his life had completely given up on him.

Fighting the urge to vomit at the thought of the last time they were at the pier, he walked close towards the mint haired woman, doing his best not to startle her.

“Byleth,” he said softly as he took a seat next to her, thankful he didn’t spook her. If he had, she didn’t show it on his face. What he did notice was the small uptick of the corner of her mouth as he called her by her birth name, despite how odd it felt. “I hope I didn’t startle you.”

She shook her head. “No. I heard you coming.”

“That’s a relief.” And it was. The last thing Dimitri wanted to do was cause her more unnecessary anxiety, at least more so than he already had.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Byleth staring straight ahead at the water. His gaze had only lasted there for a few moments before returning to the older woman. He couldn’t help but notice how bright her hair looked against the moonlight, how she seemed so relaxed yet so tired at the same time. Dimitri frowned, instantly feeling guilty. He knew that she was tired because of him, even if she didn’t want to admit to it.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Dimtiri asked gently, slowly reaching out to take her small hands into his. Just like a few days before, they felt so warm. He couldn’t help but notice how she had flinched before accepting his gesture. It took Byleth another few seconds before she relaxed into his grasp, just like they had at the Academy.

“I don’t sleep much anymore,” she admitted, the two of them knowing very well how similar the conversation was a repeat of a few weeks ago. Byleth turned to him, a look of sadness on her face. “What are you doing here?”

That wasn’t an easy question. Dimitri sighed as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I couldn’t sleep myself and found myself wandering here. Truthfully, I was hoping you would be here.” The prince wanted to add it was because he hoped she would calm his anxiety and help him fall asleep but those words were better left unspoken at this point. “I was hoping for another chance for the two of us to spend time together outside of the eyes of everyone else and not in the aftermath of a gruesome battle.”

Dimitri watched her carefully, trying to see if he could gauge her reaction. It had taken him awhile to figure out what emotions were showing on her face and even then, it was the bare minimum. It was only the flicker of a second that he saw the hesitance in her eyes before they remained emotionless. He gently ran a thumb across her hand.

“We’re always in the aftermath of a gruesome battle until this war ends.”

It was their harsh reality.

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, but for now, before we coordinate our next attack, there is some time to pause. Or so I believe, even if it’s only for a few moments. And I honestly do not think I can go into another battle after R-” Dimitri choked on his words for a moment before sighing, “- dying for our cause without speaking to you, one on one, especially after what happened the last time we were here.”

“What do you want?” Byleth asked as she moved her hand away from his, missing the comfort. Her voice sounded tired and she was. Although Dimtiri had professed that he was sorry and that he was going to work to atone for his sins and for how he had treated everyone, Byleth had a hard time coming to terms with it. While she believed him and knew that he was being genuine with his words, it was hard for her to wrap her head around. It was almost four moons of pure hatred emitting from Dimitri’s body. That didn’t change overnight. It had only been a week or so since that day.

“To properly apologize. No, don’t look at me like that. I know you don’t believe me,” Dimitri said as he looked back over the pond, clenching his fists together, hard enough to draw blood. It was the only thing that prevented him from reaching out to her and pulling her into his embrace. “Nobody believes me. I don’t blame anyone for that. How could they believe me after how I’ve treated you all so horribly these past moons?”

Byleth furrowed her brows as she went against her better judgement and grabbed one of hands and pulled it into hers. She noticed the blood but decided against speaking to it. She noticed how his, and hers, shoulders relaxed.

“It’s not that we – no, I can’t speak for anyone else but myself. And I certainly won’t speak for Felix.” That earned a snort of laughter from Dimitri. “It’s not that I don’t believe you. I do. I know that you’re genuine with your words. I feel like I know you better than you know yourself sometimes, which is why I fought so hard for you in the beginning. But I _just _started pulling myself back together.”

That was a lie. If anything, Byleth felt she was worse off than before. It was easier to mask this time since she didn’t have to parade that everything was okay. Everyone knew that something had happened between her and the prince. It still didn’t make it any easier. If anything, the knowing looks made it harder to accept.

“You hurt me. You really hurt me.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t, Dimitri. You think you do but you don’t.” Her tone was harsh. It was enough for Dimitri to look up at her, a sad look in his eye.

He shook his head. He could feel his heart running cold as he recounted the memory of a few weeks ago, where after Byleth had walked away from him, he had followed. Dimitri had followed her, at enough of a distance she didn’t seem to notice, to her room. He had noticed that she had been close to crying at the pier and one of his worst fears had been confirmed when Dimitri had heard her sniffling. Once the door had slammed shut, he was right next to it, listening to her sobs. They were sobs that were caused by him and another part of him had broken that night.

“I heard you that night. I did. You left and I followed a few seconds later. I … I heard you crying in your room. And I knew it was because of me. It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard.”

The confession caused Byleth to pause. That was something she hadn’t expected to hear. It was something that she had hoped would happen, that maybe she could get through his thick skull, but Byleth had long accepted that that wasn’t the case.

Yet it was.

“What could I do? You wouldn’t have let me into your room, don’t try and pretend you would have. You had given up on me, rightfully so, and I felt like another part of me had died. It was surreal; I hadn’t felt such an emotion that wasn’t pure anger like that in a long time. Five and a half years, really.” Dimitri sighed. This conversation went easier in his head.

“I would have kicked your ass,” Byleth mumbled, a light laugh escaping her lips.

Dimitri chuckled. “You would have. It would have been one hell of a sight, that’s for sure. And it would have been well deserved. Felix would have been _ecstatic._” The thought of his childhood friend’s reaction made him laugh.

There was a moment of silence before Byleth spoke. “Where are you going with this? You’ve already said this to everyone. I don’t want another repeat of your apology. I’ve already heard it. Repeating it to me doesn’t magically change things.”

“No, I don’t expect it to. I know that’s unrealistic and it’s selfish of me to wish that it would change overnight. But you, my beloved, deserve a more personal apology that I can only hope my actions will start to justify and you will have faith in me again.

If her heart had a beat, it would have stopped at him saying “my beloved.” Dimitri didn’t falter from his choice of words and she didn’t want to address it. Could it really be that simple? Could her feelings of love be returned by him? And if he had loved her all this time, why had he been so harsh?

There was no way it was that simple. Nothing in life ever was.

“You deserve so much better than me, than all of this. I’ve been nothing but ruthless, stubborn and cold. You’ve done nothing but be patient and try and help me until you could take no more. I am honestly surprised you didn’t give up on me sooner; I wouldn’t blame you if you had. And I’ve done so many terrible things that I’m not quite sure why you still have your hands around mine.” Dimitri gave her another small, sad smile. “I remember everything I’ve done and everything I’ve said to you and I regret it. And I _know _that me just saying I’m sorry won’t change anything. I know that I have to prove it to you, to everyone else, and I will spend my whole life proving it to you that I love you and I am sorry, that I am sorry for ever causing you to doubt your confidence in me and for making you cry.”

There it was again: _love. _

Dimitri didn’t falter his gaze from Byleth. He was speaking from the heart and even though it made him nervous to admit such a strong word, it was the truth. He had known it from the his academy days, only to be truly confirmed by the day he had lost her for the first time. He was hopelessly in love with her and if she didn’t return his feelings, he would understand.

“All I can selfishly ask is that you don’t hate me.”

“_Sothis_, of course I don’t hate you,” Byleth responded, her tone exasperated. Despite everything she had gone through, despite how Dimitri treated her and everyone else, she knew she could never hate him. It would take some work before her trust would heal from the fracture, yes, but she believed him at her core.

Dimitri as King was the reason to win the war. Dimitri as her former student, as her love, was the reason to help him come back to himself. Despite the agony, the decision was easy. Trusting her gut was one of the first things her father had taught her as a mercenary.

“I won’t pretend that everything’s okay because it’s not. I don’t expect you to, either. I’m going to be overly analytical of almost anything you suggest at the war counsel and probably question most of your motives outside of it. Like tonight, for example.” Byleth removed one of her hands from his grasp and gently placed it on his face, underneath his eye patch. “All I ask is that you be patient with me, if you truly want me back at your side without question.”

The blonde brought their entangled hands up to his lips, gently placing a kiss on her knuckles. It sent a chill down her spine. As strange as the feeling was, this was exactly the type of actions she was looking for. Maybe not something as intimate as the moment they were sharing, but the tenderness to the way he spoke and the way he held her hand.

Dimitri didn’t speak but he didn’t need to. The soft kisses on her knuckles was his way of saying _thank you_. It was comforting.

“I missed you,” Byleth spoke softly. She removed her hand from his face and moved closer to him, their sides touching before she rested her head against his arm. Being so close to Dimitri gave her a new perspective on how much he had grown in the five years and how small she was compared to him.

“I missed you too. When we first lost you, I didn’t know what to do. I was beside myself. Sylvain and Ingrid had to pull me away from the battlefield after a few days of looking for you. I refused to believe you were gone. Even during the last five years, it was one of the few things that kept me alive, I believe. I always knew you had to be _somewhere_. And then you appeared again and _Goddess_, I forgot how much I had missed you and your presence. It was overwhelming.”

Dimitri was lost in his memory. Despite the pain that was associated with the last five years, the best thing that had happened to him in the past few moons had been his beloved professor returning to him. He placed another kiss to her knuckles before resting their hands down on his lap, lulling the two of them into a comfortable silence.

“There’s something else I want to speak with you about. I know the timing isn’t ideal and as much as I believe we can win this war, I don’t want to let the chance pass and should you feel differently, I will walk away if I need to.”

Byleth could feel his hands shaking in hers. It had only been a few moments of silence and she knew exactly what he was going to say. The mint haired woman had chosen to ignore his words at the time, unsure if she was able to process the reality of her feelings of love being returned. It didn’t help that this conversation was only coming a few weeks after he had started to become himself again. He had already spoken the words out loud, why address it now? 

“Byleth, I lo-”

A loud clap of thunder sounded off in the distance, startling both of them. Byleth pulled her hand away from Dimitri and stood up, her body immediately triggered into flight or fight. Dimitri followed suit, watching the older woman carefully as the sound of reoccurring thunder grew louder.

“Sleep with me tonight.”

Dimitri blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” Although he figured her comment was not the slang Sylvain constantly referred to, he knew he had to double check.

“I don’t like thunderstorms. I never have.” They were already walking towards her quarters and she was moving fast. “And I’ve always slept better through them when I have someone in the room with me. Something about having another presence calmed my nerves. It’s why I would always be so tired the night after a storm hit the monastery, I hadn’t slept,” Byleth admitted sheepishly. “And honestly? I don’t trust that our conversation was nothing more than a dream.”

Dimitri couldn’t argue with that. “Are you sure you wa-”

“I wouldn’t ask you if I wasn’t sure, Dimitri. You know this by now.” They had moved at such a fast pace he didn’t realize they were already in her quarters and the door was shut behind them. He could only imagine the look on Sylvain’s face if he had seen the two of them walk into her quarters together.

He adverted his gaze as she stripped down and changed into her nightwear, slowly following suit. The armor he wore was effective and prevented a lot of injuries but it was cumbersome to take off. “Professor, what I said earlie-”

“Byleth, Dimitri. Not professor. And I heard what you said earlier.” She took a deep breath as she sat on the edge of the bed. “But I can’t. Not right now. I can’t hear that right now because I won’t fully believe you and when you tell me what I think you’re going to say, I want to fully believe you. I won’t believe you right now.”

She was doing her best to mask the sadness in her voice. It was almost has hard as letting him go just a few weeks ago. Had she even really let him go? Byleth didn’t know the answer to that, although she was learning towards no, given that he was in nothing but an undershirt and pants in her quarters after she had asked him to spend the night.

“That’s something I want to believe so badly. It’s something I’ve wanted since I found you again. And I… I… If you still feel that way after we take back Enbarr and you kill Edelgard and we win this war, tell me then.”

Dimitri knew that his feelings wouldn’t change. They hadn’t changed in five years, even when they had been masked by pure hatred and insanity, his love for her had always been there. But she had asked him to be patient with her and despite the painful tug at his heart (_I deserve it,_ he thought to himself), it was in the best interest.

He accepted her invitation into the bed and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling Byleth as close to him as possible. He noticed how her body had stiffened for a moment before relaxing and Dimitri knew he would have to accept that as a new reality. Byleth had relaxed into his embrace, already feeling safer than she had in years, even with the thunderstorm raging on outside.

“After we win this war then.”

For the first night in five years, the two of them slept through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone for the kudos and kind words! it means a lot. <3


End file.
